Random scenes around the island. The mustache man wandered the malls during the holiday season. Little kids would run up to him, like a Middle East version of Mickey Mouse, andhis assitant would snap a quick Polaroid and charge the parents 1 BD.
The billboards, with the King, the Prime Minister, and the Crown Prince, line the roads. There isn't much variety - sometimes they'll be playing with pigeons, or at the F1 track. Usually the text is just thanking the 3 for their great leadership of the country.
 

Before he left, my friend Eric and I decided to take a trip around the island. There are actually a fe w things to see, and most of it is clustered in one place, right in the middle of the desert, where we headed first.
The First Oil Well was not much to see. It's just some piping and a well in the ground, with a little plaque. The museum was closed, so we just took some pics in the oppressive heat and jumped back into the A/C.

Next stop was the Tree of Life, which is the best known landmark in Bahrain. A 400 year old mesquite tree, quite large, in the middle of a desert, with a mysterious source of water – it really is impressive. The limbs go all the way to the ground, so you can climb up into the tree. The only problem: it’s really, really hot in the middle of the desert, so we got out, took some pics, and back into the car.

Near the Tree of Life is this odd little neighborhood of sorts. It’s mostly a slum block of corrugated metal all patched together. Oddly, there was also one trailer with a white picket fence marking off its yard. Sort of a weird thing to see in the middle of the desert.

Our next goal was to hit the West Coast of the island. You know it’s a small place when you can see the two major tourist attractions and drive from one side of the country to the other in less than an hour! As we were trying to get out of the oil area, we found a living room in the middle of the desert. I think someone had just dumped their old furniture, but it was all set up like a real room – so random!

It was Bahraini Labor Day, we think, and there were swarms of people at the beach. The beach is a little different in the Arab world than the Western world: no babes in bikinis, no musclemen in Speedos. Just a lot of kids running around playing soccer, and their parents fully outfitted in thobes and abayas, watching in groups. Sometimes the abayas actually go into the beach, but fully clothed! Having enough of this, we headed to Al Bandar Resort, which is a club on the east coast, mostly for foreigners, where you can walk around in whatever and then jump in the pool when it gets too hot. My favorite part is the waiters who bring you amazing strawberry and banana daiquiris.

I'm starting this blog to give everybody an idea of what it's like to live in a somewhat progressive Middle Eastern country. It's definitely different than the States, but there are lots of things that I thought would be hard and are really quite easy. It reminds me of a saying I heard all the time on my SE Asia trip - "Same same, but different." Pretty much says it all, doesn't it?
Anyway, my plan is to update whenever I see something different or interesting, or maybe just to share some pics. Let me know if there's anything you're really interested in knowing about Bahrain. I'll be here for a year or so.